JUST KIDDING!

5 good albums to get you started and possibly my 5 favorite albums:

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis - Obvious. The reason this album is great is because of it being arguably the best lineup of all time. With any other group the concept wouldn't have worked.

Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins - Rollins is a genius improviser and this, along with Live at the Village Vangaurd, are his best works, though this is much more accessible.

Complete Jazz at Massey Hall by Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker is at his best live, and this is a wonderful group of musicians. Make sure the label is Jazz Factory and not Original Jazz Classics cause this has more tracks and no overdubbing on bass.

A Love Supreme by John Coltrane - Coltrane's great quartet was at its height when he made this album. It probably won't be accessible at first but is very rewarding after a few listens.

The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman - This is the best place to start with free jazz. Ornette's genius isn't praised enough.

"Mingus Ah Um" is a personal favorite, as is Coltrane's "Blue Train."

after watching snippets of the ken burns' jazz, wynton marsalis revealed the album that turned him onto jazz was mr. coltrane's my favorite things. try that one for your initial forays into (bop) jazz. it's guaranteed to not suck. another one of my favorites is wynton's black codes (from the underground).). these two are good, representatives of straight-ahead jazz, not that nutty ornette coleman stuff (sorry ornette fans). good luck with your choices. i have a lot of overlap with previous contributors to this thread.

check out Kon & Amir

As a relative newcomeer to jazz as well, perhaps a short list of my personal favourites might help.

Polar Bear - Held On The Tips Of Fingers
Neil Cowley Trio - Displaced
Esbjorn Svensson Trio - Tuesday Wonderland
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Zoe Rahmann - Melting Pot

And if anyone has anything to recommend from reading that patehetically short list, I'd love to hear it.

Try some latin jazz! I really love Miguel Zenon right now. Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by The Ninth Wave:
I've basically exhausted pop/rock/folk genres to the point where I'm in dire need of something new. Several times I've tried to appreciate Miles Davis and Charles Mingus etc to no avail. If it helps I really love Bernard Herman's 'Taxi Driver' soundtrack....any jazz similar to that you could suggest. Thanks

What you need is: Terry Callier. He is one of the greatest (underground) Jazz musicians. If you want something else try Jazzanova of Luis Armstrong

Hope you like it.

I would suggest Carmen Lundy. She is one of my living favorites..

I would like to second Mingus' Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. It's one of my favorites...jazz with classical music creeping at its edge, and some killer sections.

If you're having trouble getting into it, some fusion or jazz with rock/pop influence might help. Herbie Hancock's Headhunters is funky as heck. And I enjoy The Bad Plus' crazy pop-rock take on piano trio jazz. (I like Give myself...their cover of the Pixie's Velouria is great.)

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Bunchy Pants:
What I am really after is sultry female jazz vocalists. My reference point being Roisin Murphy's track The Truth on Handsome Boy Modelling School's first album. I love the kind of smokey chilled, lounge-room vibe, coupled with some hip hop beats.

Try Nina Simone. She was around too early for hip hop beats, but I've caught her oh so smoky voice in samples on a couple hip hop tracks.

Allmusic

quote:

If you're having trouble getting into it, some fusion or jazz with rock/pop influence might help.

Try The Blessing - All Is Yes
or
Acoustic Ladyland - Last Chance Disco

both are brilliant jazz-based rock/punk crossover albums

i'm not a huge fan of jazz but i am growing to like vocal jazz. haha. i really like michael buble.

Perhaps you need to read about jazz. 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis is an incredible album to examine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_of_Blue


"As was Miles Davis's penchant, he called for almost no rehearsal and the musicians had little idea what they were to record ; as described in the original liner notes by pianist Bill Evans, the band had only received sketches of scales and melody lines to improvise and go on from Davis. Once the musicians were assembled, Davis gave brief instructions for each piece and then set to taping the sextet in studio."

I would recommend Eric Dolphy as the best place to start for the more avante garde stuff. He's very much grounded in Bebop but plays a particular kind of abstraction on that. Unlike Ornette Coleman who is generally more removed any kind of grounding, though he is hardly the most "out there" of all the players.

And no mention of Fusion. Miles Davis' In a Silent Way till his '75 sessions is excellent. Mahavishnu, Early Weather Report, Circle, Mwandishi, and Sun Ra who plays music in a lot of different worlds.

I don't know what you are used to listening too, but my first blushes with Jazz were a little too tame for my tastes. I actually had to work backward if that makes sense.

If you want something thats urgent and full of raw emotion to get a start check out John Coltrane - Stellar Regions.

It was release after his death, and the recordings were done just months before he died. To me they are almost like a call out to a higher power in music from a master. I don't know if he ever planned to release these tracks, but when I first heard them they struck me because of the pure and sincere emotion.

One more thing. If you want to hear some cats straight getting off solo wise... blast a track called In Waked Bud from the album Thelonious Monk and the Jazz Giants.

New Acoustic Ladyland album is out Monday (July 13) - should be a corker.